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Tuesday, June 25, 2019
A. V. Koshy redux
Senryu
Stop
my hands. Don't dial
Stop the fish reaching the worm
Stop me not. From you.
Senryū ("river willow"') is a Japanese form of short poetry similar to haiku in construction, but haiku are about nature and tend to be serious or profound, while senryū are about human activiies and are often cynical or darkly humorous. They share the same economical three-line format, composed of 5, 7, and 5 "syllables" (actually, units of sound called "mora" that include 2 vowels occurring in succession, though sounds that end in an "n" sound count as 2 morae and words with a double consonant only count as 1 mora.) Unlike haiku, senryū do not include a kireji (cutting word, at the end of the 1st or 2nd line), are usually 1 grammatical unit, and do not generally include a kigo, or season word. A haiku usually shows a definite ending, but a senryū closes with a continuative verb form, suggesting further action. Senryū often omit or abbreviate the key word or topic, perhaps a famous aphorism, forcing the reader to fill it in, and that practice often involves the use of wordplay such as puns and word associations and relies on unexpected metaphors or comparisons. The haiku (originally "hokku," opening verse) was originally the beginning of a sequence of linked verses, but the senryū evolved from "manku awase" (10,000-verse contests), poetry competitions in which a judge would use an earlier verse to set a 14-syllable theme and then poets would recite a 17-syllable verse in reply. Karai Hachiemon (who used "Senryū" as his pen name) was an 18th-century official in the Asakusa district of Edo (Tokyo) who was renowned as a "manku awase" judge. In 1765 one of his colleagues, Arubeshi Goryoken Arubeshi, collected Senryū's 23 booklets of prize-winning verses into a 756-verse book, "Haifūyanagidaru" (Willow Barrel); its last edition, in 1838, included 167 volumes of poetry added by others. Even so, Senryū's name did not become eponymous for the genre until the early 20th century. Before his death in 1790 at 73, he composed the following jisei (death poem)[--tr. David Bowles]:
Now the wintry wind— but then let your buds blossom, river willow.
Senryū ("river willow"') is a Japanese form of short poetry similar to haiku in construction, but haiku are about nature and tend to be serious or profound, while senryū are about human activiies and are often cynical or darkly humorous. They share the same economical three-line format, composed of 5, 7, and 5 "syllables" (actually, units of sound called "mora" that include 2 vowels occurring in succession, though sounds that end in an "n" sound count as 2 morae and words with a double consonant only count as 1 mora.) Unlike haiku, senryū do not include a kireji (cutting word, at the end of the 1st or 2nd line), are usually 1 grammatical unit, and do not generally include a kigo, or season word. A haiku usually shows a definite ending, but a senryū closes with a continuative verb form, suggesting further action. Senryū often omit or abbreviate the key word or topic, perhaps a famous aphorism, forcing the reader to fill it in, and that practice often involves the use of wordplay such as puns and word associations and relies on unexpected metaphors or comparisons. The haiku (originally "hokku," opening verse) was originally the beginning of a sequence of linked verses, but the senryū evolved from "manku awase" (10,000-verse contests), poetry competitions in which a judge would use an earlier verse to set a 14-syllable theme and then poets would recite a 17-syllable verse in reply. Karai Hachiemon (who used "Senryū" as his pen name) was an 18th-century official in the Asakusa district of Edo (Tokyo) who was renowned as a "manku awase" judge. In 1765 one of his colleagues, Arubeshi Goryoken Arubeshi, collected Senryū's 23 booklets of prize-winning verses into a 756-verse book, "Haifūyanagidaru" (Willow Barrel); its last edition, in 1838, included 167 volumes of poetry added by others. Even so, Senryū's name did not become eponymous for the genre until the early 20th century. Before his death in 1790 at 73, he composed the following jisei (death poem)[--tr. David Bowles]:
ReplyDeleteNow the wintry wind—
but then let your buds blossom,
river willow.